Dutch Island Management Area

Really cool island to tour after anchoring nearby. Old war buildings that are run down, but accessible to roam through. Fun find.

This island is a diamond in the rough. There are old military gun emplacements and the infrastructure that supported them. You find them while hiking through the brush and along a reasonably clear dirt road. Some of the brush has been cleared and grass planted around the ruins in apparent preparation for improving the island. What makes the experience so strange is the attractive quality safety fencing around the dangerous sections of the ruins and the skeletons of deer. If you are ready to push through the brush go ahead and explore otherwise wait for a couple of years until the island is ready for the public. We visited in September 2017 and after two hours of exploring we saw no poison ivy and only one tick. We checked with the Rhode Island parks department to confirm that we were allowed on the island and found several articles on the history of the island in Google search.

Beautiful place with tremendous potential. The state of RI has really dropped the ball on this one. Wouldn't take much to maintain suitable trails around this historical treasure but sadly that's not the case. As on all RI islands take normal precautions to avoid ticks. There is a trail of sorts that begins on the east side of the island near the obvious landing spot. The trail heads south around the perimeter of the island to about mid way up the western side where it kind of ends. I did walk the entire perimeter of the island along the rocky shoreline from that point. I don't know if it could be done at high tide and it was slippery and tricky at low tide. This place could be so much more. C'mon RI, isn't this supposed to be "The Ocean State"?